


Have Out

by mercurybard



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-04
Updated: 2011-12-04
Packaged: 2017-10-26 21:34:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/288158
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercurybard/pseuds/mercurybard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teyla and Bates reach an understanding after their fight.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Have Out

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for "The Gift". Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate: Atlantis. I'm just peeing in someone else's pool, as usual.

The amount of effort it took to open his eyes was insane. Bates felt like he was treading through molasses, so when he did get his eyelids up, he wasn't surprised to find himself in the infirmary. He was, however, shocked to see the Athosian woman, Teyla, sitting cross-legged on the bed beside him.

"You are awake," she said quietly.

He made a growling noise deep in his throat. Groggy from painkillers, he still hurt. It felt like he'd been hit by a dump truck. A really big dump truck. "What happened?" he demanded, eyeing her suspiciously. Last he remembered, she'd been compromised by the Wraith. What was she doing sitting beside his sickbed? Had Atlantis fallen and the Wraith taken him hostage? That didn't make much sense—the Wraith certainly weren't the type to give medical attention to prisoners—but neither did her presence at his bedside.

"You were attacked by a Wraith."

"How did a Wraith get into the city?"

"He beamed down from the Dart that scanned the city right before it self-destructed. His presence here on Atlantis was the reason for my continued nightmares."

"How can you just say that? It sounds like you're almost proud of being part Wraith."

"I can say it because I have to—it is a fact that I must live with just as Major Shepherd must live with possessing the Ancient gene."

The comparison did not impress him. Bates had never really been comfortable with the idea of his superior being part alien, no matter how small the part. Then again, he'd never really been comfortable with having the major as his superior officer—Shepherd was too trusting and too willing to violate protocol. When it came to this woman, the major's judgment seemed particularly clouded.

Teyla must have noticed the look on his face, for she continued, "I should think that as the person in charge of your people's security, you would be willing to acknowledge that my connection to the Wraith is beneficial to your efforts."

"But it also puts us at risk when the Wraith start digging around in your head!" Bates knew he was yelling—it was causing undue strain on his ribs, which made him think they'd been cracked—but he didn't much care. "For God knows whatever reason, Major Shepherd has seen fit to put you on his team, which puts you in a position to discover all sorts of vital information that you don't possess the security clearance for!" His hands, wrapped around the bars on either side of the hospital bed, were trembling. "By God, I swear that if the Wraith find a way to get to Earth because of you, I will hunt you down…"

"You will not have to, sergeant, for I will already be dead. That I swear, by my father's name."

That made him pause. She was serious. Dead serious. Stress and fatigue gave her a frayed appearance as if she were starting to unravel around the edges. Bates wondered how many days it had been since she last slept. Too many, definitely. It showed the same kind of raw dedication that he'd always associated with true marines—the kind of eat-dirt, sleep-on-my-feet dedication that could turn a disaster into a win for the good guys.

Maybe he couldn't trust her to be able to keep the Wraith out of her head, but he was starting to get the feeling he could trust her to put a bullet in her own skull rather than let them take control.

"I think I believe you, Emmagan," he admitted quietly.

Teyla simply nodded.


End file.
